Opening of Baku International Sea Trade Port complex

The opening of the Baku International Sea Trade Port Complex will play an important role in strengthening the transport potential of Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev said at the commissioning ceremony of the port.

“Passing this decision has shown that our policy is far-sighted and balanced,” the President said.

“A ferry terminal was commissioned in 2014 and a Ro-Ro terminal early this year. Currently, the port is fully operational. The port, which has handling capacity of 15 million tons of cargo, including 100,000 containers, will undoubtedly play an important role in the strengthening of our transport infrastructure. Over the next stage, bringing the handling capacity to 25 million tons is envisaged. During the presentation today, plans related to the expansion works were also reported, and it is planned to bring the port's capacity to 500,000 containers per year,” President Ilham Aliyev said.

According to the head of state, the creation of a free economic zone in the Alat settlement is due to start in the near future, which will facilitate not only the accelerated development of this area, but also the opening of new jobs.

"The commissioning of the Baku International Sea Trade Port Complex indicates that we have fulfilled all outstanding tasks related to the transport infrastructure. We have the largest fleet in the Caspian comprising more than 260 ships. I was informed that 18 more ships have been purchased in the past few years. A shipyard has been built in Baku upon my initiative. We can build and manufacture all types of vessels. Thus, we have eliminated the dependence on foreign partners,” President Ilham Aliyev said.

President Ilham Aliyev noted further that roads covering 15,000 kilometers have been built in the country over the past 15 years. Seven airports have been built, including six international ones. Azerbaijan has the most modern aircraft fleet. The railway infrastructure is being upgraded, and locomotives and railway carriages are purchased in the country. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was commissioned last October. The President noted that it was a historic project initiated by Azerbaijan. Thanks to the successful implementation of this project, Azerbaijan will further strengthen its position in this region.

“At present, we are engaged in the construction of the North-South transport corridor and have completed all the necessary works on our territory. Thus, the routes from the North to the South and from the East to the West cross and will cross the territory of Azerbaijan. We have allocated additional funds to finalize the North-South transport corridor, and I am confident that this railway will become fully operational in the coming years. Thus, Azerbaijan, which does not have access to open seas in the Eurasian space, will become a transport and logistics center,” President Ilham Aliyev said.

“We have to look forward to the future,” President Ilham Aliyev said. According to him, Azerbaijan is boosting its geopolitical and geo-economic significance many-fold by creating large transport infrastructure.